MORE
than $13 million was gobbled up by President Mugabe, his childrenand a
delegation of about 47 officials during his 14-day trip to Libya,France and
the United States of America where he attended the UnitedNations Millennium
Summit.

Mugabe travelled to New York with an entourage of 44 people,
among themthe Minister of State for Information and Publicity, Jonathan
Moyo, andthe Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stan Mudenge. Also on the
delegationwere O Mugabe, Bona Mugabe and Master T Mugabe.

The trip
came as talks on the need to reduce presidential trips and thenumber of
people going on them were growing louder. In Parliament theopposition
Movement for Democratic Change hascomplained of the cost of the trips to an
economy on the verge ofcollapse.

More than $13 million was used to
buy the tickets to Libya, France andthe US. Then there were the daily
allowances of between US$200 ($10 400)and US$300 a day for senior officials,
and between US$150 and US$250 forjunior officials.

Mugabe, who this
week leaves for Mozambique to attend the officialopening of Mozal Aluminium
Plant in Maputo, will be accompanied by 23people on the one-day
trip.

A junior official will receive about $14 000 for accommodation,
mealsand allowances. Allowances for seniors on the trip to Mozambique
couldnot be verified by yesterday afternoon.

Documents in the
possession of The Daily News indicate that on his NewYork trip, apart from
the two ministers, Mugabe was accompanied by theChief of Protocol,
Munyaradzi Kajese, the Director-General of theCentral Intelligence
Organisation (CIO), Brigadier Elisha Muzonzini, 30officials from the CIO and
the President’s Office, two officials fromthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a
presidential photographer and acamera person, a nursing sister, two
reporters from Zimpapers and Ziana,a ZBC reporter and cameraman and one
official from the Ministry of HomeAffairs.

Yesterday, the
presidential spokesman, George Charamba, said the list ofthe presidential
delegation, especially in relation to the number of CIOoperatives, was
misleading. “The categories may be misleading because inbasic international
engagements, there are certain invisibles. Some ofthe people on the list do
not know how to fire a gun, so you cannot callthem security,” Charamba
said.

He said the President needed technocrats from different
ministries.Mugabe dealt with the land issue, the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill
2000 andthe conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, among many others.
Thetechnocrats were drawn from various ministries but were indicated
asworking in the President’s Office, Charamba said, without
elaborating.

Please, turn to Page 2 for full list of
delegation.

--Page 2--

Full list of Presidential delegation on
14-day trip

The delegation which accompanied His Excellency The President
of theRepublic of Zimbabwe and the First Lady to Libya, France and New
Yorkfrom 29 August to 10 September 2000:

· The opposition bombing and subsequent police raids
on the offices of the opposition MDC provided the state-owned
media with the opportunity to promote the official view that the
grenade blast was "an inside job" done in an attempt to tarnish
the image of government. While the ZBC and Zimpapers carried MDC
protests and denials, they were swamped by government voices
insisting the police raids for "arms of war" were lawful
and justified.

· Reports about the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill
before the U.S. Congress continued to reflect the sharp division
between the publicly owned media, which only highlighted
government efforts to have the Bill scrapped and the privately
owned press featured reports mainly of the MDC's explanation for
not opposing the Bill. · In the first week that
ZBC was allowed to record parliamentary proceedings, the public
broadcaster used the opportunity to promote the image of government
ministers without explaining the context of their statements. And
while Zimpapers appeared to be more balanced in a quantitative analysis of
its parliamentary coverage, a qualitative analysis of the content of
the stories published showed The Daily News to be notably more
balanced.

· Various stories relating to the country's economic
crisis appeared in the week under review. The press reported
widely on the collapse of the nation's health delivery system and
the crisis at the Grain Marketing Board which cannot buy communal
farmers' maize. Zimpapers and ZBC reported Agriculture Minister
Made's statement that government would support the parastatal, but failed
to explain that it had been unable to pay farmers for last year's
crop.Nor did it link the GMB's impoverishment to
corruption.

· Apparently conflicting comments by Information
Minister Jonathan Moyo about allowing a diversity of broadcasters
access to Zimbabwe's airwaves were reported by ZBC and The Sunday
Mail. The Daily News responded vigorously to persistent attacks
on it by ZBC's Media Watch host, Supa Mandiwanzira, who has at
least given the paper's editor-in- chief a chance to appear on
the programme. The Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust and Zimpapers'
management shake-up also received media attention in the private
press.

MDC OFFICES BOMBED AND
RAIDED

Once again ZBC has delayed reporting important news
items. At 11pm on Monday September 11th, a grenade exploded at the
offices of the MDC in Fife Avenue, but ZBC didn't report the event
until its Nhau Indaba and 6 pm radio news bulletin the following day.
Similarly, the broadcasting organization delayed reporting the police raids
on three MDC's offices in Harare on Thursday, September 14th, searching
for "arms of war" until its 11pm television broadcast which also
quoted Home Affairs Minister, John Nkomo, saying he would issue a
statement the following week. Having missed the Tuesday newspaper
deadlines, the Press only carried news of the bombing in their
Wednesday editions (13/9). All papers quoted MDC spokesman Learnmore
Jongwe accusing ZANU PF of being behind the attack. Only
the Zimpapers' dailies accorded the ruling party the right of
response, quoting Nathan Shamuyarira as saying: "The accusation is a
blatant lie, but then we have always known that MDC are
liars." Zimpapers' titles, The Daily News and The Zimbabwe Independent
all carried stories of the police raids on the MDC offices in their
Friday editions (15/9). The Herald and The Chronicle reported
that: Four MDC officials were yesterday briefly picked up for
questioning when police raided the party's offices in Harare as
investigations into Monday night's grenade explosion at the party's
headquarters intensifies. The ZIMPAPERS article quoted the MDC
indirectly, giving more weight to the Presidential spokesman's statement
justifying the police action: 'The search at the MDC offices was
justified as the police had search warrants and were digging deeper
into the case to find any leads and clues". No comment was accessed from
the MDC and/or lawyers on the legality of the search. The Herald and The
Daily News both reported that the raids were debated in Parliament
and quoted members of both ZANU PF and MDC, but The Herald reported
this development separately and was more extensive. Both papers reported that
MDC MPs claimed the intimidation and harassment of their party was meant
to undermine it in the run-up to the presidential election and get
access to MDC membership records so that its supporters could be
terrorized. Only The Daily News reported an MDC security officer at the
party's St Martins office saying the police raided the office on
Wednesday night (before the raids on the party's Fife Avenue and
Eastgate offices) and beat him up. The Daily News and The Zimbabwe
Independent were also the only media to report that the police raided
the homes of four MDC security members in the early hours of Thursday
morning, and ransacked the Zengeza home of MDC MP Tafadzwa Musekiwa
in their search for arms of war. There was no indication whether the
police had warrants to do this. In fact, the entire issue of the two
search warrants issued to search the MDC offices and the High Court
orders obtained against the police action was obscure in all
the media. Only The Zimbabwe Independent provided some detail that a
second search warrant was issued to allow the police to search for
documents and information on computer that the first warrant had
failed to specify. It also reported that the police called off their
investigation after being served with a High Court order declaring their
search unlawful.

Only Zimpapers' Saturday (16/9)
editions specified that the initial warrant gave the police power to
search for "arms of war - grenades, rifles, teargas". The Herald's
article "Police raid MDC offices again, seize documents", reported that the
police had raided the MDC offices for a second time, emphasizing that
the ZRP was intensifying investigations into Monday night's
explosion. The article said the police had "seized party documents
and computer data suspected to be linked to Monday's grenade
explosion". Although the state-owned dailies referred to "a second
search warrant in as many days . to have access to the MDC computer
database" it failed to specify the detail of the warrant. However,
the article did report that: "Judge President Justice Chidyausiku
ruled against the police action in favour of the MDC application
seeking to restrain the force" a point disputed in The Sunday Mail, and
by Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo on ZBC bulletins the previous
night. ZBCTV's Nhau Indaba and 8pm bulletins on Saturday only referred
to the raids in reference to the two High Court orders "setting
aside" the search warrants and ordering the return of confiscated
material. The bulletins (ZBCTV, 8 pm) also afforded the MDC 75
seconds of airtime to corroborate ZBC's own report about the court orders
and quoted an official saying the party was entitled to get its
documents back. However, Moyo was then given 280 seconds to deny the
claim, saying the search was complete before the High Court had
issued its ruling and that this had been achieved by consensus with
the Attorney-General, and not as a result of the MDC action. Speaking
on behalf of the police Moyo said: "The bottom line is that the police,
recognizing the seriousness of this crime.and the need to investigate
it.have done what is lawful.MDC was panicking and panicking in a way
to suggest that they have something to hide and have gone to court." No
comment was sought from the Attorney-General's office. Radio reported
that the warrants had been set aside (16/9) in the morning bulletins.
But on the 8pm bulletins, Radio 1/3 reported the issue from Minister Moyo's
point of view. The bulletins did not report the MDC press
conference. However, The Standard (17/9) reported that the ZRP had
ignored two High Court orders and emphasized the fact that this had
been done to enable the police to copy MDC documents. The paper
quoted MDC's Welsman Ncube: The police were reluctant to give us our
documents and were trying to buy time so that they could
photocopy them. It is sad when a police force is turned into an
arm of a crumbling political party and is used to terrorize
popular parties. We now have a lawless police force. The paper also gave
government the chance to reply quoting Moyo (again), and presidential
spokesman, George. Chararamba, who said: Government dismisses with
absolute contempt and no regard, suggestions and claims by some
self-interested political quarters, including the British
government, that the police acted unlawfully and in defiance of
the High Court order in their pursuit of available leads on this
crime.

ZIMPAPERS' Sunday papers introduced a new angle to the
incident, adding its own quotes from Moyo. The Sunday Mail (17/9)
front-page article Evidence on MDC ready: Police, gave the impression
that the police had found incriminating evidence against the MDC but
emphasized the issue of a British conspiracy. The first paragraph of
the article read: The Government has described attacks by
the British government on lawful police investigations against acts
of terrorism and crime as preposterous and meant to hide
something In a bid to substantiate the conspiracy theory, the article
quoted Moyo expanding on his MDC conspiracy theory: ". by
rushing to comment on the police raids, the British Government had
demonstrated that it had something to hide". This comment must have come
as a surprise to readers who had not been exposed to the British
comment on the raids either in ZIMPAPERS or the private press.The
Sunday Mail also reported that police were studying evidence that
included what senior police officers described as "hot" and
"revealing". No information was provided to support this. No comment
was accessed from the MDC. Rivaling this story for bias was perhaps the
most pernicious story of the week; a Ziana news agency report carried
on the front page of The Sunday News (17/9).Under the misleading
heading, MDC comments on police raids, the story quoted the MDC denying
completely unsupported and vague "speculation" that ". it is recruiting
youths for military training in an unspecified European country". The
agency story reported that: "Speculation was rife that a Catholic
rector at a mission close to the capital was spearheading the
recruitment on behalf of the MDC", without providing a shred of
evidence to substantiate this suggestion. MDC spokesman Learnmore
Jongwe was quoted describing the allegations as "pure nonsense". But
by asking the party to respond to such damaging "speculation", the
paper was able to publish the allegations and raise the possibility
in the minds of the paper's more gullible readers. Such rubbish
undoubtedly irritated most readers and MMPZ condemns the publication
of such dangerous fabrications.

THE
DEMOCRACY BILL ZIMPAPERS and the private press highlighted the division
between ZANU PF and MDC regarding the bill. The Herald article
Proposed Zimbabwe Democracy Bill sparks heated debate reported that
ZANU PF MPs opposed the Bill while MDC MPs supported it. ZIMPAPERS (The
Herald, The Chronicle, The Manica Post, & The Sunday Mail) carried
editorial comments criticizing the Bill and calling for unity against
it. The Sunday Mail (17/9) reported that some United States
Congressmen and senators disagreed with the Bill following meetings
with the SADC foreign ministers delegation to the U.S. The Sunday
Mail article People unhappy with proposed US bill reported that the
U.S. government should not interfere with Zimbabwe's domestic affairs
and must respect the country's sovereignty, while the MDC should not
use 'desperate' measures like supporting sanctions to get into power, a
survey established. The article reported that it sought the opinions of
100 people, 80% of whom were against the Bill. The Daily News
(13/9) reported Eddison Zvobgo criticizing the Bill in parliament for
being "unworthy and set to further damage the ailing economy and
induce more political turmoil". MDC MPs were reported to have refused
to condemn the Bill "as it was asking the ZANU PF government to do
the impossible but simply respect its own constitution by restoring
the rule of law and order". The Zimbabwe Mirror (15/9) quoted Zimbabwe
Union of Democrats president Margaret Dongo challenging all
Zimbabweans to condemn the Bill. The Zimbabwe Independent's report
focused on Zvobgo's parliamentary efforts to convince all MPs to
condemn the Bill. But the MDC legislators refused to be enticed. About half
the editorial space in the story was given to MDC MPs explaining why
they were refusing to condemn the bill. ZBC only featured
stories condemning the proposed American legislation. Radio
quoted MP Zvobgo 13/9 6am and 7am, 1pm and 8pm urging the Zimbabwean
government and US parliamentarians to cancel the Bill as it would adversely
affect Zanu PF, MDC and the people of Zimbabwe. It did not ask whether
the Government of Zimbabwe had the power to do this.
Political commentator Alfred Nhema was reported to have urged Parliament t o
unite against the Bill (Radios 1/3 September 13 8pm), and
Transparency International Zimbabwe chairman John Makumbe was also
quoted criticizing the Bill and saying it was wrong for the US
government to seek to fund opposition political parties (14/9, ZBCTV
8pm). Radio 1/3 presented the statement more fully, quoting
Makumbe saying that Zimbabwe had a very active civic society and
enough internal pressure and therefore did not need foreigners to act
on their behalf.

Further attacks on the Bill were made during
the President's address to the Harlem community in which leaders such
as Louis Farrakhan said that they would mobilize the black community
to ensure the Bill was not passed (16/9 documentary).

FIGURE 1
shows that ZIMPAPERS continues to equitably quote ZANU PF and MDC voices
in Parliament. ZIMPAPERS carried a total of 20 parliament
related stories, quoting 29 ZANU PF, 26 MDC, 2 ZANU and 1 alternative
voice. A qualitative analysis of the quotes however, shows that
ZIMPAPERS is more elaborate when it comes to ZANU PF comments, which
are usually quoted directly, whereas MDC voices are either referred
to in passing or quoted indirectly. It is only in the private press
that readers can obtain a better grasp of MDC comments. For example, The
Herald made side reference to MDC contributions on the Zimbabwe
Democracy Bill. The Zimbabwe Independent (15/9) gave an extensive
account of the debate. The Daily News this week had five stories on
parliamentary debate. To its credit, the paper covered the
contributions of both the ZANU PF (Zvobgo, Makoni and Hunzvi) and MDC
MPs.

ZBC's coverage of parliamentary sessions has remained
unbalanced and one-sided. It clearly used its permission to cover
question time in parliament as an opportunity to portray government
ministers who have been called to account for their portfolios in a
favourable light by ignoring the questions that prompted their answers.
No debate was accessed. For example, television's 8pm on
September 14 broadcast a report in which minister Simba Makoni said
that the devaluation of the dollar had resulted in increased capital
inflows; Minister July Moyo was quoted saying government had told NGOs
to hand in audited accounts or risk being closed down; and Minister
Made was quoted saying farms adjacent to communal areas topped the
designation list. All these statements were reported without the
context in which they were made. In similar vein, Radio reported (14/9,
6am and 1pm) Minister Sekeramayi saying his ministry and ZESA were
working hard to improve the availability of electricity. All stations
(13/9, television 6pm and 8pm, radio 7am and 1pm) reported Minister
Stamps denying the closure of Mbuya Nehanda hospital and that his
ministry would no longer hire nurses. Again the context of this
statement was not given.

THE GMB Reports of the
problems at the GMB were not coherently spelt out in the electronic
media. Initial reports on ZBC (Radios 1/3 11/9, 1pm and 8pm, television
12/9, Nhau Indaba 8pm) quoted communal and small scale farmers urging
government to grant them export licences so they could sell their
maize in neighbouring countries (This was followed up by a report the
following day (6am and 8am) on the same stations in which the
farmers appealed to private buyers to buy their produce. September
13's morning television reported that small-scale farmers were holding
onto maize crops as GMB was not buying maize. In the same day's 8pm
news, communal and small-scale farmers were reported to have lost
hope of selling maize to the GMB because it is cash-strapped.
Furthermore Minister Made stated that the government would help GMB to
get finance to buy maize from farmers (14/9, Nhau Indaba and
television 8pm, and Radio 17/9, 8pm). There has been no explanation
as to the situation prevailing at the GMB (only an implied one).
Neither was there an attempt to link the problems with the corruption
that has been unearthed there.) The Daily News (14/9) was first
to enlighten Zimbabweans about the true nature of the story and its
origins. It reported that Made had admitted the GMB was broke in
response to a question in Parliament the previous day. The Herald (15/9)
reported the story the following day, saying that the GMB ". reeling
from alleged financial mismanagement, has this year failed to buy maize from
farmers due to a lack of funds". As a result, communal farmers had
fallen prey to middlemen who buy the maize at below cost, the paper
said. Made was quoted saying the cash- flow problems at GMB were a
result of a $7 billion debt arising partly from maize imports of
1998/99, which were sold at below market prices. But it didn't provide
the detail in The Daily News, about how the debt was accrued. Neither
paper provided any background of the alleged corruption and arrests
at the GMB earlier in the year. Nor, apparently, did
Made.

THE MEDIA Parliament moved a motion to
allow ZBC to broadcast its proceedings (September 13, 8pm). However,
Zimpapers' titles quoted the Leader of the House, Patrick Chinamasa,
saying the exercise would be expensive and legislators should not think
it can be implemented immediately. No comment was sought from ZBC on
the feasibility and cost of covering Parliament live. During
a parliamentary session reported on September 14.
(ZBC 8pm.bulletins), Jonathan Moyo (again in a story which did not
place the statement in any context) was reported as saying: Zimbabwe
had liberalized the airwaves in 1980 when broadcasting was put under the
control of the majority. Moyo added that the government would retain
the status quo and continue to keep the airwaves in the hands of the
majority as it is an asset that belongs to the people. Apart from this
statement conflicting with subsequent comments from the minister, the
findings of the MMPZ during the election campaign clearly demonstrate
that ZBC is anything but under the control of the people of Zimbabwe.
Instead, broadcasting remains the preserve of the ruling party.
Irrefutable evidence for this is reflected in the public
broadcaster's coverage of the election, which saw 92 percent of
the stories about the activities and statements of political parties
focusing on ZANU PF. ZBC has repeatedly fallen short of its mandate
as a public broadcaster. This week saw an interesting turn in the new
public affairs programme, Media Watch. The programme has degenerated
into a platform used by presenter Supa Mandiwanzira to launch personal
attacks on critics of the programme. Mandziwazira has sustained an
attack on The Daily News and its assistant editor, Bill Saidi in the
last three weeks of the programme. These were prompted by an earlier
observation from Saidi commenting on the arrival of Media Watch that
ZBC was incapable of being an impartial judge of Zimbabwe's media
output. Mandiwanzira responded to this with an attack on Saidi and The
Daily News in the Media Watch programme before the one featured in
this report. The paper then published excerpts of the attack at
length (14/9) quoting him as saying The Daily News was ".a Movement
for Democratic Change newsletter [and an] MDC dirty tricks outfit".
But the day before (13/9) Saidi used the fundamental truth that ZBC is
a government mouthpiece, by providing a history of ZBC's compromises
and attacked Mandiwanzira ignorance in the process. In the
week under review however, Mandiwanzira interviewed Daily
News Editor-in- Chief, Geoff Nyarota, raising issues of ownership
interests and their effects on editorial content. The interview is to
be continued in the next programme. The Zimbabwe Mirror (15/9), Future
of ZMMT uncertain as govt restructures information sector, quoted George
Charamba, as secretary for information and publicity, saying the
public information sector would be restructured ". to bring harmony
and efficiency". The Sunday Mail reported that government would appoint
a 20-member National Media Advisory Panel which will, among other
things, advise the government on ways to "improve" the flow of
information through the media. The Financial Gazette (14/9) followed up
the restructuring at Zimpapers with a story claiming that trading in
the newspaper giant's stocks remained quiet and that The Herald's
circulation figures were down to 70 000, 30 000 less than its rival. The
paper also revealed that there were problems relating to the appointment
of new editors at The Herald and The Sunday Mail owing to a legal
technicality because of the manner in which the previous editors were
removed. The paper also claimed that board chairman, Tommy Sithole,
had taken to chairing the editorial meetings, reducing newly
appointed editors to spectators. Ends This report is
produced and circulated by the Media Monitoring Project (MMPZ), 221
Fife Avenue, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 733486, 734207, E-mail: monitors@icon.co.zw, Web: http://www.icon.co.zw/mmpz. Feel
free to respond to MMPZ. We cannot be able to respond to everything, but we
will look at each message. Also, please feel free to circulate this
message.

1 CORRUPT PRACTICESCited
incidents include:-a) Severe assaults on suspected members of MDC
bysupporters of the respondent.b) Physical assault and incarceration of
the petitionerat Mataga Police station.c) Petitioner's car was burnt by
respondent'ssupporters.d) Campaign of terror lead by Biggie
Chitoro,threatening anyone who assisted MDC or the petitioner, including
ashopkeeper who sold food to MDC members on polling day.e) Seven polling
agents severely assaulted on arrivalat polling stations, one hospitalized in
Harare.

2 ELECTORAL IRREGULARITIESCited incidents include:-a)
Respondent's supporters who had conducted thepre-election violence were
polling agents at many of the polling stations.b) War veterans and ZanuPF
youth involved inpre-election violence were permitted to sit at the entrance
to pollingstations.c) Respondent was allowed to enter a polling
stationand remove voters from the queue, stating that he was taking them to
amobile station elsewhere.d) Numerous incidents of campaigning within
the 100metre limit of the polling station.

Petition filed on the 19th
of July 2000Sureties forms signed and forms filedService on the ZANU(PF)
candidate

Keep up the
support!

Regards,

MDC Support Centre8th Floor, Gold
BridgeEastgateHarare

091367151/2/3

Guqula Izenzo/Maitiro
Chinja

"The rule of law should not be applied selectively" (Morgan
Tsvangirayi)

This Office is forming a publication / information
distribution committee to produce the above Bulletin. It is to be issued weekly
on e-mail, and thereafter in printed form on a regular basis (to be determined
by the availability of funds).

A small nucleus of interested people exist, but we
invite volunteers to participate so that the responsibility of publication and
meeting deadlines may be shared.

All volunteers will be welcome, but it would help
if people with journalistic and editorial skills were also present to ensure
that a consistently good standard of publication is maintained.

Articles would include excerpts from Hansard
(reports of Parliamentary Debates), statements from the Party on specific
issues, newsworthy happenings / incidents, reports from Constituencies,
suggestions, questions, letters etc. This is intended to be a two-way
communication between the Party/Support and Constituencies. It will initially
cover the Southern Region (53 constituencies in Bulawayo, Matabeleland North,
Matabeleland South, Masvingo and Midlands). We can then get together with the
Northern Region at a later date.

P.S.

A further note - we will also require
the services of qualified translators for Ndebele, Shona, Venda, Tonga, and
Tswana.

Please respond to these Offices at your earliest
convenience. We look forward to your positive response. Please pass this on -
especially to anyone who is not on e-mail, but whom you feel is willing / able
to assist.

According to the government controlled newspaper "The Herald" ......
Four farmers have been arrested in Zimbabwe for allegedly telling their workers
to evict squatters from their land.

Interior minister John Nkomo said:
"The police will not tolerate any unlawful actions or disruptions of public
disorder, such as new farm occupations."

The farmers - all from the south
of the capital, Harare - face charges of "inciting violence", The Herald
reports.

Squatters led by militant veterans have invaded more than 1,600
white-owned farms since February and the government has vowed to redistribute
land. President Robert Mugabe has openly supported the land occupation
campaign.

But it has also said those who stared squatting on white
owned-farms since July will be expelled.

Zimbabwe radio 'free for all'

Zimbabwe's Supreme Court has declared that a private radio station can start
operating immediately.

This breaks the current monopoly by the state broadcaster, which is widely
seen as being a government mouthpiece.

The minister of information accepted that the legal monopoly was
unconstitutional but wanted time to pass new regulations controlling private
radio and television stations.

This decision is a major breakthrough for Zimbabwe's private media and for
the political opposition.

State monopoly

The state broadcasting monopoly gives the ruling Zanu-PF party a huge
advantage in rural areas where privately owned newspapers are not available, and
in any case, most people cannot afford to buy them.

They rely for their information on state
radio, which never criticises the government and rarely mentions the opposition.

In recent parliamentary elections Zanu PF won all of its seats in rural
areas.

Free for all

However, lawyers for Capital Radio advised it to start broadcasting as soon
as possible before new regulations were passed.

The information minister wanted time to draft such regulations, but the
Supreme Court said that was not its business.

As the state monopoly has only just been struck down, there is currently no
legal requirement to have a license to broadcast and, in the words of the chief
justice, there is a free for all.

Gerry Jackson, one of the directors of Capital Radio, told the BBC that it
would start operating in three or four weeks time.

The information minister recently stated that those who were fronts for
foreign interests would not be allowed to run radio or television stations in
Zimbabwe.

This is a further briefing on the bombing incident at the MDC
headquartersand the subsequent searches, harassment and the planned arrests
of the MDCleadership. We now have full evidence surrounding the blast. The
evidence inour possession clearly points to the involvement of people in the
highestoffices of government in a conspiracy to destabilise the MDC.
Thedestabilisation plan was sanctioned at the highest offices of
governmentinvolving some of the most outspoken Ministers and was initiated
by executedthe direct supervision of the Police Headquarters.

A
police operative by the name of Zacharia Nkomo, force No. 033355 andserving
under the police protection unit, (PPU), was assigned the task
ofinfiltrating the MDC youth wing in preparation for the
planneddestabilisation of the MDC. Zacharia Nkomo, a musket training
instructor,whose official residence is at the police hostels in Fife Ave,
wasaccordingly given leave of absence from his duties several months ago.

I must point out that many earlier destabilisation plans were hatched
butdid not succeed. Under pressure to register success, a new plan to bomb
theMDC offices so as to create a pretext for searching the MDC premises,
harassand arrest the MDC officials was put in place. In order to fulfil this
newplan, Zacharia Nkomo was issued with hand and smoke grenades, canisters
oftear smoke and other weapons to plant at the homes of selected MDC
leadersand officials. The targeted MDC leaders and officials include the
MDCmembers of parliament, Tafadzwa Musekiwa and Job Sikhala, MDC
NationalExecutive member, Cephas Makuyana and MDC provincial executive
members,Tendai Jambani, Brighton Matimba and John Nkatazo.

For the
bomb attack on the MDC offices, Nkomo was issued with two handgrenades and
two smoke grenades. We can confirm that immediately after thebomb blast at
our Headquarters a police Defender was used as the get awaycar.

As
you are aware, after the blast, the searches started on the premises ofthe
party and those of the MDC leadership and officials. After failing tofind a
single shred of evidence the Minister of Home Affairs John Nkomo wenton to
mislead the nation giving a false representation of facts inparliament. More
misleading information has been issued by the Minister ofinformation, Prof.
Jonathan Moyo collaborating false evidence. We wish torepeat here that the
searches carried out by the police on our premises didnot find any arms of
war. The media, the lawyers, our own staff and thepolice that were present
know that the searches yielded nothing of the sort.

In our view the
bombing of our offices using the government apparatus andthe subsequent
searches on our premises confirm the government's intentionto use unorthodox
means to subvert a legally constituted party. We wish torepeat for the
record that the MDC is a legally constituted political partywith the right
to participate in the national politics of this country. Wewish to further
state that the government action is testimony of itsdesperation to hold on
to power in spite of shifting national sentiment.

The conspiracy
justifies the immediate suspension of the PoliceCommissioner, Augustine
Chihuri, the Minister of Home Affairs, John Nkomoand the Minister of
information, Prof. Jonathan Moyo for misleadingParliament and the
nation.

By: M. TsvangiraiPRESIDENT

Keep up the
support!

Regards,

MDC Support Centre8th Floor, Gold
BridgeEastgateHarare

091367151/2/3

Guqula Izenzo/Maitiro
Chinja

"The rule of law should not be applied selectively" (Morgan
Tsvangirayi)

Congress to axe Mugabe?

Financial Gazette 21 eptember 2000

- Sydney Masamvu, Chief Reporter

ZANU PF’s top leadership, fighting to
revive the ruling party’s waning popularity, is unanimous that President Robert
Mugabe should step down from the 2002 presidential election but has not agreed
on his successor, senior party insiders said this week.

ZANU PF Politburo members and others from the party’s central committee,
including parliamentarians, told the Financial Gazette in separate interviews
that they all wanted Mugabe to retire but were not agreed on who should succeed
him.

"We are all in agreement that Mugabe must go. That is no longer an issue," a
member of ZANU PF’s Politburo — the party’s highest policy-making body — told
this newspaper, echoing the views of most of those polled this week.

"The problem that we have at the moment is

who should be Mugabe’s successor. We cannot agree on a candidate," the
official said.

He added: "The biggest problem is to reach a consensus on a successor who has
the support of the party’s membership coun-trywide and the capacity to win the
2002 election."

He, just as all other officials interviewed, prefe-rred not to be named.

Other officials within ZANU PF said there were differences between the
pro-reform wing of the party who want a young leader and the old guard — mainly
from the Politburo — who prefer a successor to come up from within its ranks.

The reform wing is understood to be rallying behind Finance Minister Simba
Makoni while the Politburo has a choice of names such as Masvingo South MP
Eddison Zvobgo; Parlia-mentary Speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa and Home Affairs
Minister John Nkomo.

Party insiders said some within the old guard were arguing that they still
had the capacity to run for the highest office in the land despite calls from
the younger generation for a purge of all of Mugabe’s allies.

A compromise between the two wings has been mentioned. This would involve the
creation of party structures that allow the old guard, while not in charge, to
still have a say in the affairs of the party and Zimbabwe.

The compromise, say the insiders, would centre on a new national constitution
that would return the southern African country to a titular presidency and an
executive prime minister.

The titular presidency, should ZANU PF win the 2002 presidential election,
would be taken by a senior party member likely to be from the old guard while
the premiership would go to a younger politician.

Both ZANU PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) agree on
the need for a new national constitution but differ on the modalities of
crafting one.

The issue of who contests the 2002 presidential election on behalf of ZANU PF
will be tabled for discussion at the party’s special congress to be held in
December, the insiders said.

ZANU PF’s central committee is due to meet in two weeks’ time to fix the date
for the congress.

The party’s publicity and information secretary Nathan Shamuyarira could not
be reached for comment this week while its administration boss Didymus Mutasa
refused to discuss the matter.

The projected congress is also expected to amend ZANU PF’s constitution to
allow for the election of Politburo members and the nomination of any senior
party member to contest the national presidential poll without being necessarily
the leader of ZANU PF.

Politburo members are at present appointed by Mugabe and the party’s
constitution allows only the leader of the party to be nominated to stand for
the presidency of Zimbabwe.

Mugabe has not made the task of choosing his successor easier by refusing to
disclose whether he is going to seek re-election in 2002 or not.

But the 76-year-old politician has been under growing pressure from
lieutenants to retire after the party’s dismal performance in the watershed June
general election.

ZANU PF managed to hang on to power with a slim majority of 62 of the
contested 120 seats. The MDC took 57 seats and ZANU Ndonga won
one.

Militants, Farmers Open Fire in Zimbabwe

22 September - HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Ruling party militants opened fire on
a group of white farmers and their black workers, stepping up tensions in the
seven-month occupation of white-owned farms across Zimbabwe, farmers leaders
said Thursday.

No one was hurt in the shooting near the farming town of Featherstone, about
110 kilometers (70 miles) south of Harare. However, two farmers were assaulted
and slightly injured in the confrontation Wednesday, said the Commercial Farmers
Union, which represents Zimbabwe's 4,000 white commercial farmers.

Since February, militants and mobs of squatters have occupied more than 1,700
white-owned farms.

The union said about 20 farmers aided by workers began demolishing shelters
erected by militants and squatters occupying private farms around Featherstone.

But the squatters demanded they stop destroying the shelters.

Farmers and workers dove to the ground when the militants fired rifles,
pistols and automatic weapons at them. One shot pierced a pickup truck but
missed its occupants, the union said in a statement.

More than 1,000 workers and their employers gathered later outside a district
police station demanding the arrest of 12 militant leaders.

No arrests were made. Police refused to give details of the incident.

One white farmer, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said
farmers and workers attempted to clear squatter shacks in privately-owned fields
that were obstructing the planting of corn and tobacco ahead of seasonal rains
around November.

Police had been asked to remove the shacks but failed to take decisive
action, he said.

The government has defied two court orders to clear illegal squatters off
private land. President Robert Mugabe has described the occupations as a
justified protest against unfair land ownership by whites and has begun
proceedings to seize thousands of farms.

Officials of the farmers union have appealed to members not to take the law
into their own hands, but acknowledge many farmers, backed by their workers,
have lost patience after police repeatedly failed to intervene to protect them
from intimidation and work stoppages caused by violent occupiers.

The government, however, said Wednesday it would intensify a police operation
that has forced hundreds of squatters to leave about 10 white-owned farms,
mostly around Harare, in the past week.

Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo, responsible for the police, said illegal
settlers will be removed from farms occupied since June 2, when the government
announced a "fast track" program to confiscate 3,000 farms for distribution to
landless blacks, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported.

The farmers have lodged a suit against the seizures.

"There are too many criminals now on the farms who are inviting people in and
selling land to them. No one except central government has the power to allocate
land," Nkomo said.

The farmers union said the raids were against squatters on farms not targeted
for confiscation.

The vigil for PATRICK
NABANYAMA is on today at
the Large City Hall steps at lunchtime - beginning at a slightly earlier time
than previously advertised. The gathering will now start at 12:30 - the earlier
start being because David Coltart, well-known human rights lawyer and activist,
will be speaking to those who assemble. Please pass this message on to everyone
you know.

From The Star (SA), 21
September

Mugabe militants fire on farmers and
workers

Harare - Ruling party militants opened fire
on a group of farmers and their workers, stepping up tensions in the seven-month
occupation of white-owned farms across Zimbabwe, farmers leaders said on
Thursday. No one was hurt in the shooting near the farming town of Featherstone,
about 110 kilometers south of Harare. However, two farmers were assaulted and
slightly injured in the confrontation on Wednesday, said the Commercial Farmers
Union, which represents Zimbabwe's 4,000 white commercial farmers. The union
said about 20 farmers aided by workers began demolishing shelters erected by
militants and squatters occupying private farms around Featherstone. But the
squatters demanded they stop destroying the shelters.

Farmers and workers dove to the ground when
the militants fired rifles, pistols and automatic weapons at them. One shot
pierced a pickup truck but missed its occupants, the union said in a statement.
More than 1 000 workers and their employers gathered later outside a district
police station demanding the arrest of 12 militant leaders. No arrests were made
and police refused to give details of the incident. One white farmer, who asked
not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said farmers and workers attempted
to clear squatter shacks in privately-owned fields that were obstructing the
planting of corn and tobacco ahead of seasonal rains around November. Police had
been asked to remove the shacks but failed to take decisive action, he
said.

Officials of the farmers union have
appealed to members not to take the law into their own hands, but acknowledge
many farmers, backed by their workers, have lost patience after police
repeatedly failed to intervene to protect them from intimidation and work
stoppages caused by violent occupiers. The government, however, said on
Wednesday it would intensify a police operation that has forced hundreds of
squatters to leave about 10 white-owned farms, mostly around Harare, in the past
week. Home Affairs Minister John Nkomo, responsible for the police, said illegal
squatters will be removed from farms occupied since 2 June, when the government
announced a "fast track" program to confiscate 3 000 farms for distribution to
landless blacks, the state-controlled Herald newspaper reported.

The farmers have lodged a suit against the
seizures. "There are too many criminals now on the farms who are inviting people
in and selling land to them. No one except central government has the power to
allocate land," Nkomo said. The farmers union said the raids were against
squatters on farms not targeted for confiscation. Police action was "a positive
move toward the restoration of law and order," the union said. "The extent of
the commitment by the police to this exercise remains to be seen." "Farm
workers, whose livelihoods are directly threatened, are increasingly standing up
to the illegal occupiers," it said. Clashes between farm workers and squatters
near Harare on Tuesday injured 26 people. Police reported no arrests from those
clashes. Two previous orders to police to move against squatters by Nkomo and
Vice-President Joseph Msika have been rescinded by Mugabe.

From Business Day (SA), 22
September

Clashes hit land reform
programme

HARARE - Zimbabwe's controversial land reform programme has
been thrown into further chaos following fresh violent clashes between white
farmers and self-styled war veterans. This week's clashes in commercial farming
districts just outside Harare and near the town of Featherstone, about 110km
south of the capital, degenerated into small gun battles. Fear grew that the
crisis may deepen over the weekend. The latest clashes put a damper on emerging
international support, including from the United Nations, on Zimbabwe's land
reforms.

The shootings came at a time when Zimbabwe's government
appeared to be making half-hearted attempts at clamping down on the illegal
occupation of white-owned farms. Recent police swoops affected farms invaded
only after July 2, when Harare's "fasttrack" land initiative was announced. The
CFU said about 20 farmers and workers began demolishing shelters erected by
militants and squatters occupying private farms around Featherstone. Farmers and
workers dived to the ground when the squatters fired rifles, pistols and
automatic weapons at them, according to the union. No arrests were made after
more than 1000 workers and their employers gathered later outside a district
police station demanding the arrest of 12 militant leaders. CFU officials have
appealed to members not to take the law into their own hands, but acknowledge
many farmers have lost patience after police repeatedly failed to intervene to
protect them from intimidation and work stoppages. In Karoi, west of Harare,
veterans have threatened farmers with violence if Featherstone-type actions are
replayed there, says a CFU official.

From The Financial Gazette, 21
September

Govt begins eviction of defiant
farmers

THE government was this week scheduled to start evicting
commercial farmers who were served with 30-day notices to vacate their
properties for the accelerated land resettlement exercise but ignored the
directives. CFU deputy director Jerry Grant said the first evictions were due to
begin yesterday. The government has so far gazetted a list of 2 102 commercial
farms for compulsory acquisition under the fast track resettlement programme.
Owners of some of these farms had already been issued with 30-day notices to
vacate their properties and the first batch of these notices was due to expire
this week.

"The first evictions on farms which have been served with these
notices are thus scheduled to begin on Wednesday this week," Grant told the
Financial Gazette. Grant said most of the affected farmers had chosen to remain
on their properties because the 30-day notices issued by the government were not
in line with the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act. Grant said under
Section 9 of the Land Acquisition Act, the government should have given 90-day
notices to most of the affected farmers instead of 30 days. Moreover, most of
the farmers issued with the notices to vacate their farms were challenging the
seizures of the properties in the courts and it would be improper for the
government to evict them. However, the government had indicated it would proceed
with the evictions, he said.

Most of the farmers on the 2 102 gazetted farms are challenging
the acquisition of their properties in the Administrative Court. Grant said even
in those cases in which farm owners had voluntarily agreed to the acquisition of
their properties, the government had still not bothered to evaluate these
properties properly as required by law. In some instances, the government had
also not reached any agreements of sale with farmers not contesting the
compulsory seizures of their properties. "Everything is in disarray, the
regulations are not being followed," Grant said.

The government has said it would acquire at least 3 000
commercial farms for the fast track resettlement programme. The CFU this week
went to court to challenge the acquisition of the farms without compensation as
well as the validity of the temporary presidential powers being used to seize
the land. Farming industry officials said the evictions of the farmers would
further harden the position of banks which have so far refused to finance
farmers whose land has been targeted for acquisition. The CFU has said over 2
000 farm owners whose properties have been listed for acquisition will not be
advanced seasonal loans by the banks due to lack of security of tenure. The
development will drastically scale down production in the commercial farming
sector and affect agriculture’s contribution to gross domestic product next
year.

From The Financial Gazette, 21
September

Congress to axe
Mugabe?

ZANU PF’s top leadership, fighting to revive the ruling party’s
waning popularity, is unanimous that President Robert Mugabe should step down
from the 2002 presidential election but has not agreed on his successor, senior
party insiders said this week. ZANU PF Politburo members and others from the
party’s central committee, including parliamentarians, told the Financial
Gazette in separate interviews that they all wanted Mugabe to retire but were
not agreed on who should succeed him.

"We are all in agreement that Mugabe must go. That is no longer
an issue," a member of ZANU PF’s Politburo - the party’s highest policy-making
body - told this newspaper, echoing the views of most of those polled this week.
"The problem that we have at the moment is who should be Mugabe’s successor. We
cannot agree on a candidate," the official said. He added: "The biggest problem
is to reach a consensus on a successor who has the support of the party’s
membership countrywide and the capacity to win the 2002 election."

He, just as all other officials interviewed, preferred not to
be named. Other officials within ZANU PF said there were differences between the
pro-reform wing of the party who want a young leader and the old guard - mainly
from the Politburo - who prefer a successor to come up from within its ranks.
The reform wing is understood to be rallying behind Finance Minister Simba
Makoni while the Politburo has a choice of names such as Masvingo South MP
Eddison Zvobgo; Parliamentary Speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa and Home Affairs
Minister John Nkomo. Party insiders said some within the old guard were arguing
that they still had the capacity to run for the highest office in the land
despite calls from the younger generation for a purge of all of Mugabe’s
allies.

A compromise between the two wings has been mentioned. This
would involve the creation of party structures that allow the old guard, while
not in charge, to still have a say in the affairs of the party and Zimbabwe. The
compromise, say the insiders, would centre on a new national constitution that
would return the southern African country to a titular presidency and an
executive prime minister. The titular presidency, should ZANU PF win the 2002
presidential election, would be taken by a senior party member likely to be from
the old guard while the premiership would go to a younger politician. Both ZANU
PF and the opposition MDC agree on the need for a new national constitution but
differ on the modalities of crafting one.

The issue of who contests the 2002 presidential election on
behalf of ZANU PF will be tabled for discussion at the party’s special congress
to be held in December, the insiders said. ZANU PF’s central committee is due to
meet in two weeks’ time to fix the date for the congress. The party’s publicity
and information secretary Nathan Shamuyarira could not be reached for comment
this week while its administration boss Didymus Mutasa refused to discuss the
matter.

The projected congress is also expected to amend ZANU PF’s
constitution to allow for the election of Politburo members and the nomination
of any senior party member to contest the national presidential poll without
being necessarily the leader of ZANU PF. Politburo members are at present
appointed by Mugabe and the party’s constitution allows only the leader of the
party to be nominated to stand for the presidency of Zimbabwe. Mugabe has not
made the task of choosing his successor easier by refusing to disclose whether
he is going to seek re-election in 2002 or not. But the 76-year-old politician
has been under growing pressure from lieutenants to retire after the party’s
dismal performance in the watershed June general election.

From Business Day (SA), 22
September

Zimbabwe gets UK
help

Minister says money flowing into country shows Britain
has not turned its back

PRETORIA - The UK has committed a total of £40m in aid to
Zimbabwe's people and this is flowing into the country mainly through civil
society organisations, says Peter Hain, the UK's foreign office minister. Hain
said in an interview yesterday that the UK government had made £20m available to
Zimbabwean citizens through non-governmental organisations and had recently
committed a further £20m to combat the plague of HIV/Aids. "This proves the UK
is not turning its back on Zimbabwe and its people, but rather on the
government's reckless policies regarding the economy and land reform," he
said.

Hain said the jury was still out on Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe's recent announcements on the country's controversial land reform
programme. Mugabe has pledged to remove war veterans who have taken over farms
not designated for resettlement. The Zimbabwean government conceded this week
that it had mistakenly targeted an Anglo American farm, the Hippo Valley sugar
estate, for resettlement. Agro-industrial estates were not intended for
resettlement, it said, and promised to remove the estate from a list of
white-owned properties targeted for seizure.

Hain said the UK's appeal to Zimbabwe was that it return to the
principles that were agreed to at the 1998 Harare donor conference. "If this
were to happen, Zimbabwe would receive tens of millions of pounds for land
reform," he said. Hain warned that should Zimbabwe keep on its current path, it
would continue to slide down "a slippery slope into total collapse". Mugabe has
vowed to push ahead with a controversial land seizure programme that has seen
black Zimbabwean war veterans occupy thousands of white-owned farms. The
government has served notice it will acquire more than 2000 of the 3041
white-owned farms earmarked for the resettlement of landless black people.

The US senate recently passed a bill, the Zimbabwe Democracy
Act of 2000, which seeks to punish Mugabe's government for failing to curb
lawlessness, particularly the violent farm invasions and harassment of
opposition supporters. It also urges the president to instruct US directors on
the IMF and World Bank's boards to oppose debt cancellation or loans for
Zimbabwe, other than for humanitarian or "good governance" purposes. Hain said
he was not surprised that donor nations were united in their unwillingness to
fund "disastrous policies" in Zimbabwe.

From The Daily News, 21
September

CIO deployed to High
Court

THE government has deployed CIO agents at the public entrances
at the High Court in Harare in unclear circumstances. High Court employees said
the CIO agents were deployed after the MDC filed petitions for the nullification
of parliamentary election results in 39 constituencies. Augustine Chikumira, the
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs,
yesterday failed to explain the presence of the security agents. "I would not
know whether they are CIO members or not. All I can say is that the matter has
been raised and I have asked the Registrar, Master of the High Court and other
senior officials there to look into the matter," said Chikumira. He said he was
waiting to be briefed on the outcome of the investigations.

Staff at the court told The Daily News they were being harassed
by the "new security guards". "We are being asked to produce identity cards and
sign passes to enter the building," said a High Court employee, who preferred to
remain anonymous. "I had to return home for my ID card after they denied me
entry into the building where I have been working for the past seven years."
When The Daily News went to the building, there was a long queue of people
waiting to be searched while others turned back without being attended to.
Acting Registrar of the High Court, Nyasha Machakaire, said he was surprised by
the sudden change of security guards. "They are not our responsibility. All I
know is that they are rotated every two days and have their standing orders,"
said Machakaire.

Sources said the agents were deployed soon after the MDC
applied to the High Court to nullify the results in 39 constituencies. Said the
source: "I believe this is a way of trying to intimidate lawyers who are
handling the MDC applications." Asked why he thought they were CIO agents, the
source said: "I work with these people every day. I recognised two of them."
Noel Matsange, a lawyer with Mkinya and Associates, said: "They saw me wearing
my gown and in a rush, but they stopped me and told me to wait my turn to be
searched. But I forced my way in since I had an urgent matter in court."

Meanwhile, lawyers for the MDC say police officers involved in
the raids at the party's offices last week openly admitted they had not found
any weapons. MDC officials present during the searches said the police only
seized documents. The lawyers and party officials said they were surprised by
government claims that arms of war had been discovered at the offices. John
Nkomo, the Minister of Home Affairs, told Parliament on Tuesday the police had
recovered during the raids grenades, pistols, rifles, tear smoke, pellets and
military-type handset radios believed to have originated from Malaysia. But
Innocent Chagonda of Atherstone and Cook, a lawyer for the MDC, yesterday said
the claims about the presence of arms at the offices were defamatory. Police
officers involved in the searches had confirmed they had not found any weapons,
he said. The police would not say whether they would show the weapons to the
public. Chief Superintendent Wayne Bvudzijena, the police spokesman, said: "It's
difficult to say whether they will be paraded or not. As you know, a statement
was made by the minister. I cannot say much."

From The Daily News, 21
September

MDC MPs block Bill to commercialise
CMED

OPPOSITION MDC parliamentarians last week refused to have the
Central Mechanical Equipment Department (CMED) Commercialisation Bill pass
through its second reading. MDC MPs said the ruling government wanted to use the
Bill to strip national assets before it leaves office. The Bill, steered by the
Minister of Transport and Communications, Swithun Mombeshora, would convert the
CMED into a non-profit making company registered under section 26 of the
Companies Act. Essentially, the company would continue the business of the CMED
- providing and operating transport services for the State and providing plant
and equipment for the construction of roads, dams, bridges and other
infrastructure.

Mombeshora said commercialising the CMED would ensure the
company was run along business lines, unlike at present where there was
government red tape impeding its smooth running. Commercialising, the minister
said, would eliminate incompetency, inefficiency and corruption, as the company
would be able to hire and fire staff as and when required. MDC MPs, in opposing
the commercialisation of the CMED, said it should remain a government
department. Mombeshora insisted transforming the CMED into a company would
improve its operations but it would remain a wholly owned government company as
opposed to privatisation.

"There is lack of understanding of commercialisation and
privatisation by those on the opposite side," Kangai said to a retort of "Uri
dofo chairo" You’re a dunderhead) from the MDC's Tendai Biti (Harare East), who
was asked to withdraw the remark by the Speaker. Gabriel Chaibva (MDC, Harare
South) said the government should solve problems of its own making. The
commercialisation of the CMED was proposed by the previous Parliament’s Public
Accounts Committee, which discovered that the department, steeped in
inefficiency, incompetency and corruption, had not submitted audited accounts
since 1996. Chaibva, who based his contribution on the Public Accounts Committee
reports, said the CMED’s state of indebtedness must be divulged with the
government paying up all its dues to the department.

The government at one stage owed the CMED $68 million for
services rendered, worsening its financial problems. "The people on the other
side are beginning to realise that their days are numbered so they’re stripping
the government of its assets so that they can have a pension. We cannot give way
to corruption, looting, and inability to manage and supervise. No, Minister, go
back and sort out your problems, put the CMED accounts in order and have things
moving there," he said. Biti said the government must first provide an assets
register and audited accounts of the CMED before the House could consider the
Bill.